A woman called Robin has claimed that she was “sexually victimised” by director Roman Polanski when she was a minor. Speaking at a new conference, the woman claims she was 16 years old when he abused her in 1973.
“The day after it happened, I did tell one friend that Polanski had done that to me. The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didn’t want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life,” she was quoted as saying.
She felt it necessary to open up about the abuse after a rape survivor at the center of a rape case against the director recently urged authorities to put the case to rest. Robin is now the third woman to come out against Polanski. Speaking about him, she said she was “infuriated” that the case of Samantha Geimer, who also claims to be abused by Polanski, might be dropped.
Gloria Allred, the lawyer representing the victim, said the incident happened in southern California but added that her client would not be going into any further detail. Although the statute of limitations has expired on her case, she could be called to testify in a future trial, the lawyer said.
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Polanski, now 83 years old, celebrated director behind films such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Tenant, and The Pianist, has been accused of abuse several times in the past. In 1977, he was arrested for the sexual assault of 13-year-old Samantha Gailey, who was modeling for Polanski during a Vogue magazine photo shoot around the pool. Polanski was indicted on six counts of criminal behaviour, including rape. He pleaded guilty to the charge of “unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor,” and was ordered to undergo 90 days of psychiatric evaluation.
He faced sex crime allegations again in 2010, when the British actor Charlotte Lewis claimed the director “forced himself” upon her just after her 16th birthday.
According to The Guardian, the director – who is married to the French actor Emmanuelle Seigner, with whom he has two children – has since refused to return without assurances that he would not serve additional time in prison.
Feature Image: NBC News